Working Waterfront

Remembering that first day on Frenchboro

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. I can’t believe two years have already passed since beginning my fellowship on Frenchboro. I remember leaving… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Homing in on Dave Morrison

New York City just didn't agree with Dave Morrison. The music scene was a clutter of competition and costs he hadn't encountered playing nightclub circuits in New England. Living arrangements were expensive. Waiting tables at the Hard Rock Café was less than satisfying. Transportation was awkward, especially lugging around guitars… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Could green crabs become a Maine delicacy?

Invasive green crabs responsible for decimating Maine's soft-shell clam industry are being investigated for possible culinary purposes. Art conservator Jonathan Taggart, marine biologist Marissa McMahan, and Georgetown lobsterman Chris Jamison traveled to Venice last year to learn the secrets of harvesting green crabs for gourmet dishes. Young, soft-shelled green crabs are harvested… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Beverly Ross Johnson is Chebeague’s volunteer extraordinaire

There is an old saying that you can’t keep a secret on an island, but that was disproven at Chebeague Island’s town meeting on June 10, when Beverly Ross Johnson was presented a legislative sentiment by Rep. Janice Cooper. The sentiment recognized Johnson’s 53 years contributing her time and talents… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Trump EPA cuts would have Maine fisheries navigating ‘blind’

Science and research are being targeted for deep cuts in the Trump administration’s proposed budget, and if those cuts are made, Maine’s fisheries will be navigating blind into an uncertain future. That was the message from a panel that gathered on Thursday, June 29 at the University of Southern Maine… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

We’re not that much like Baffin Island

We were attending the safety seminar and enjoying the company at a small Midcoast fly-in a few months ago, largely because good cooking had been promised. Before the chili and such was served up, though, Jeremy, the Penobscot Island Air pilot with whom I flew to the event, approached me… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Readers respond to Stonington, Matinicus photos

We asked for reader with information about old photographs we published in the May and June issues of The Working Waterfront, and you did not disappoint. First, the Matinicus photo, which depicted a woman playing an accordion-like instrument. Across the sepia-tone image, the date was hand-written. Several readers correctly pointed… SEE MORE

A boat shed on the eastern shore of Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

It’s a pretty good life

Maine is where many people, famously Scott and Helen Nearing, found the good life. I’m old enough to understand that the “good life” is a pretty subjective term, and can apply to widely divergent ways of living. I’ve been blessed with food, clothing, shelter, and decent health all my life,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Magazine celebrates the best of coastal Maine

The elements that would fill the magazine he has published for 30 years were all at hand. John Hanson remembers that day in the late 1980s clearly, sailing with artist friends through the Fox Islands Thoroughfare, eating a gourmet lunch, watching dinghy races. “This is what I want to write… SEE MORE

A sailboat approaches Portland's waterfront.

Working Waterfront

Island students learn by serving other Mainers

For some island kids, overnight trips to the mainland are no big deal. For others, a night or two in a strange place, especially with teacher chaperones and not parents, is a truly daunting prospect. For that reason, we try to regularly build overnight off-island experiences into the North Haven… SEE MORE